The obsession with excellence

The obsession with excellence

I read a Tweet that was re-Tweeted with apparent approval by a number of those involved with patient safety initiatives - it stated 

Not OK to be average. Executive responsibility for safety - need to listen to human story of effect of safety incidents.

If it's seen as unacceptable to be 'average', this explains the reaction to a hospital being below average. One can only imagine the headlines the Daily Mail might make out of 50% of hospitals being below average. There have already been sensationalist headlines on the same lines surrounding mortality statistics. Sadly, this reflects the surrender of common sense or even basic numeracy to the current absolutist memes of patient safety. 

The population in more rural areas would prefer an open, average hospital within easy reach, to a magnificent centre of excellence, an hour's drive away (for those who have cars), almost certainly overburdened due to closure of local hospitals.